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E.On ups Endesa offer to â‚¬37bn after EC move

E.On raised its offer for the Spanish energy group Endesa to â‚¬37bn ($46.9bn) on Tuesday, just hours after the European Commission ordered Madrid to dismantle a series of measures designed to block the bid from the German utility.

The â‚¬35-a-share offer from E.On represents a 37% improvement on its initial â‚¬25.5 bid for Spain's biggest electricity company, tabled in February. It follows a surprise swoop on Endesa by the Spanish construction company Acciona, which picked up a 10% stake earlier this week, paying â‚¬32 a share.

In its ruling, the EU's executive said Spain had overstepped EU law when it tried to block the E.On bid earlier this year by imposing a slate of conditions, including the sale of one-third of Endesa's generating assets. The EU also ordered Spain to scrap new legislation that gave the country's energy regulator wide-ranging powers to block incursions into what Spain argues is "a strategic sector."